The King's Guard (BL)

Tell Him

"Which one is your favorite?" I asked.
"I'm not sure yet. The strawberry is really good and the vanilla is as well."

We sat at a table under the gazebo in the back of the castle, centered in our second garden. Earlier I grabbed two forks so we could try the other cakes I'd bought at the market place. Snow and Max pranced around as well with their noses in the flowers.

"Which is yours?" he returned and took another bite of the strawberry cake.
"I think I like the tart the best but these are a very close second."
"Yea?" he smiled.
"Yea..." I looked down at the desserts to shy away from the eye contact. My cheeks felt hot and I didn't know why.

Perhaps I should just tell him.

"Do I have to learn today?" he asked.
"Oh, um yes, but you have another hour or so...unless you would like to begin sooner."
"Will you be there?"
"I will but I won't be your teacher until the tutoring session afterwards."
"Alright. Let's go then."
"Right now?!"
"Yes."
He grabbed my wrist and pulled me out of my seat to follow him.

____________________________________

When we entered the same room from before, Presley was already inside and fixing the chalk board.

"Good afternoon to the two of you." he said over the tapping of his chalk against the board.
"Good afternoon, Presley." I greeted.
"Good afternoon." Nathan stated.

We took our seats.

Presley slid a piece of paper and a pen to Nathan.

"Please write your name, sir." he instructed.

Nathan took it and wrote 'Nathen'.

"Now, as you can see I've written a few words on the board but I've removed the vowels. I am going to say the words and I want you to write the word with the correct vowels. Do you understand?"
Nathan nodded.
"Great. Your first word is 'boot'."

...

"You did well today, Nathan." Presley stated. Which was true. Presley even gave him some of the old words from the last lesson and he spelled them correctly.
"I am going to be giving you homework."
"Homework?"
"It is work you do outside of class and turn in the next day." I explained.
"For tonight's homework, I want you to read the first twenty pages of this book." Presley grabbed the book on the second desk and placed it in front of Nathan.

"This is large." Nathan stated.
"Yes, but you are not reading all of it. Only the first twenty."
Nathan nodded.
"That is all for today. I must gather your lunch." Presley said, he cleared the board then gave a bow. He soon walked out of the room and shut the door behind himself.

"Would you like to do math now? Think of it like a prize for a great job in language." I asked and he nodded.
"Let's start with something hard so you can strengthen your brain."

I wrote a problem down onto the board.

'123x456x789x45+18x9x6'

"Do you think you can do that?" I asked.
He stared at the problem.
I watched him begin writing quickly.

"Hm..." he stated.
"Yes?"
"What is this?" he asked and pointed at his paper.
I walked closer to him and looked.
"That is the billions place. It's ones, tens, hundreds, thousands...then this will be millions, and this will be billions...the placements are infinite, meaning they never end."
"So...1,991,405,412."
"Yes, very good."

____________________________________

In my bath I thought to myself as Presley washed my back.

Do I tell him? What will I do if he does not like me back? Perhaps he likes someone else. I wouldn't want to get in the way of that.

"Sire?" Presley called.
"Hm?"
"You can get out now."
I looked at Presley to see him holding my towel. I stood and dried.
"Presley?" I called.
"Yes, your highness?"
"Do you...Do you think I should tell him?"
"Tell who, sire? Nathan?"
"Yes."
"Well, I believe you should do whatever your heart tells you. If you would like to tell him then you should." he stated as I dressed.
"Alright. I've made my decision. I shall tell him tomorrow."
"Very well, your highness."

...

I paced and looked at the stuffed toy Nathan had bought me as I waited for Presley to bring my tea. A knock at the door sounded.

"Yes?" I answered.

In came Nathan with his homework.
I quickly tossed the toy behind my back before he lifted his head from his book.
"I'm sorry to bother you, but I don't know what this word is." he claimed.
He walked over to me and showed me the book.

"Neanderthal." I answered.
He looked at me.
"It's like an uncivilized person. They are messy, violent, or not very smart."
"I see..." he said and looked back at the book.

"How do you like it so far?" I asked and sat on my bed.
"It's fine. I do not like one of the characters. He killed the first character's parents."
"I think it's a good thing that you do not like them then." I snickered and pat my bed for him to sit.
He took the seat.

"Nathan, I have something to tell you." I began nervously.
"Okay, I also have a question."
"Oh, you can ask your question first." I insisted.
"Are you sure?"
"Of course."

"It's about someone here..."
"Alright." I listened intently.
"Do you..." he chuckled to himself out of nervousness and rubbed the back of his head.
"Go on. I'm all ears." I smiled.
"Do you know if Lucas is seeing anyone?"

My smile faded.

What is this pain I feel? I feel...sad. My chest aches.

"Umm...N-No. I'm sorry, I don't..."
"Oh, it's fine. What did you need to tell me?"
"N-Nothing...I forgot."
"Oh, I'm sorry."
"It's okay, it's not your fault." I smiled to sell it.
"Are you okay? Why do you look so sad?"
"I'm fine. I'm just tired. Would you mind if I got some rest?"
"Oh, no, of course not. I'll go."
I nodded and watched him get up and walk out. He closed the door behind himself.

I felt something glaze over my cheeks. Tears.

Another knock.

Presley opened the door with my tea.
I looked at him with flooded eyes.

"Oh, sire..." he placed my tea down and sat next to me.
I laid my head on his shoulder as I bawled my eyes out.